AFC Bournemouth
Last weekend, the AFC Bournemouth Ability Counts senior teams started their Hampshire League season at Toynbee School.
The new campaign saw players making their debut for the club, and two former under-16s taking the step up to make their maiden appearances for the senior team.
The Stripes and the Cherries, both competing in the middle league of three this season, started their fixtures with a game against each other.
The Cherries went a goal up, before the Stripes were able to pull it back level, through a goal-mouth scramble that ended up with the ball in the back of the net.
In the last few minutes of the game, Barnie McWilliams was able to give the Stripes the lead, with a great strike.
The Stripes then went on to win their second game against Eastleigh FC with a 2-0 scoreline, McWilliams scoring his second goal of the day.
The Cherries’ next league game was against Caulkhead Strollers, where they came away with a narrow 3-2 win thanks to a brace from Andrew Short and a first of the day for Morgan Scott. The 20-year-old was able to bring his tally to three when the Cherries then faced Eastleigh and, like the Stripes, were able to gain a two-goal advantage.
The Blacks, however, had a tough day at the office. After starting the day with a 2-0 win against Streets Ahead, they were unfortunate to lose their ‘keeper to injury in the next game, and then had to play with the bare minimum of five players.
During the last game of the day against Sholing FC Blue, a tired Blacks team, despite never giving up, lost the game 3-1, with the consolation goal from Harry Dyke.
The Reds enjoyed a successful day, with their first game being a convincing victory, with goals coming from all the outfield players including a hat-trick from Jordan Jones.
Their second fixture of the day was a win against fellow AFC Bournemouth team, the Blacks, before they went on to face Sholing FC Whites and were able to finish the day with a third win, and a second hat-trick for Jones.